Wood heel trimming machine



Aug. 25, 1959 Filed Sept. 24, 1956 N. D. DALTON ET AL WOOD HEEL TRIMMING MACHINE Aug. 25, 1959 N. D. DALTON ET AL 2,901,010

woon HEEL TRIMMING MACHINE Filed Sept. 24, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. NORRIS D. DALTON JOHN F. SMITH BY ATTORNEY Aug. 25, 1959 N. D. DALTON ET AL 2,901,010

woon HEEL TRIMMING MACHINE Filed Sept. 24, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. NORRIS D. DALTON BY JOHN F. SMITH ATTORNEY Aug. 25, 1959 N. D. DALTON ETAL 2,901,010

woon HEEL TRIMMING MACHINE Filed Sept. 24, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. NORRS DALTON JOHN F. SMITH B YMW TORNEY United States Patent ce Claims. (Cl,-144-.-154) This invention pertains to a machine for trimming woodheel. blanks preparatory to the'final shaping of the heel. In this operation most of the excess material is removed from thesides of the heel blank so that the'final "shapingcperation does not require so deep a cut.

" An object of this inventionis to provide a simple ming mechanism which will be reliable in operation. and easy to handle.

Another object is to provide such a mechanism which will be entirely automatic in operation except for ,feeding the blanks.

' A further object is to provide improved clamping means for holding the blank. during thestrimming operation.

I Further objects will appear from the following descript QI taken h the comp y d in ormin pa m at Qeiierallystated, the apparatus comprises a rotary turret ordisk member mounted on a horizontal shaft-and pro viding a support for the heel blanks during thetrimming operationi A plurality of heel-blank seats are 19 on itspivot.

spaced about the periphery of said support. Clamps,

one for each seat, are mounted on the. support and also a fluid-pressure unit for operating each clamp; Aro tary valve of. improved design is mounted. on said shaft and connected'to supply fluid pressure to each of said units during theuravel of its heelehlank "seat past the trimming cutters, and to exhaust. the: same thereafter. The two tnimm'ing cutters are located so that the blank is moved past,and between them, 'so that each cutter operates on on'e side of the blank. Theseicutters' are offset relatively'to each other so-fthat theyoperate on the blank successively. "'Thisprovides that theclamp holding the blank must sustainthe. cutting force of, onlyone cutter at a timei After the blankhas passed the cutters its clamp is releasedzandsthegblank droppedonto a chute for delivery to a suitable container.

(A prefei'red'embodiment of this inven 'on is illustrated im-theigaccompanying drawings, in which: "fiFigLtl isa perspective view, largely diagrammatic, of a mechanismembodying this'invention, .l "fFigjZ apperspectiveview showing the relativepositions of the rotarysupport and thecutters, andgthe .way ifrwhich thebIanks'passbetWe'en the latter,

Fig. 3 is a plan View of the complete mechanism,

Fig. 4 is a section on line 44 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 6 is an exploded view of the rotary valve controlling the clamps.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a suitable base on which the mechanism is mounted. A motor 2 is connected by a belt 3 to a speed-reducing gear box 4. The low-speed shaft 5 of this gear box carries a hub member 6. This hub member also receives an extension shaft 7 journalled at its other end in a bearing block 8.

Secured to the hub member 6 is a turret or disk member 9, which is thus mounted for rotation on the shaft 7 when driven by the motor 2. Mounted at suitable 2,901,010 Patented Aug, 25, 1 959 2 intervals about the periphery of thedisk 9 are heel-seat members 10 each pro ided with a side clamp jaw ll-and a? rear stop 12. On'the side of'the disk 9 opposite to" that of the jaw 11 is a clamp arm 13 pivoted on a bracket 14 secured to the disk 9 adjacent its center. 'The arm l-3has a jaw 15 positioned'oppositethe jaw 11.

By placing the pivot bracket 14 near the center of the disk9' the arm 13 becomes long enough to give the jaw 15 a substantially straight-line movement toward the jaw 11. A pin 16, slidably mounted in the disk 9 and biased by a compression spring 17, engages them 13 to move it outward, or to the right, Fig. 5, on its pivot.

"Pivoted on a bracket 18 on the. disk 9 adjacent the clamp arm 13 is a lever 19, one arm 20 of which carries a-roller 21 engaging the arm 13 as shown in Fig. 5; The other arm 22 of the lever 19 is engageable by a pressure unit comprising a fluid-pressure cylinder 23 having mov.- able therein a'piston 24 operating a plunger 25 positioned to=engage the arm 22. The cylinder 23 is mounted on the opposite side of the disk 9 to that on which the lever 19 is' mounted, and its plunger passes through aisuitableopening in said disk lined with a-guide bushing 26. When fluid pressure is supplied to the cylinder 23 via a fitting 27, the piston 24 moves the plunger 25 to the right, Fig. 5, engaging the arm 22in rock the lever This causes the arm 20 to move the roller 21 to the left to move the clamp arm 13 against the pressure of the spring '17 to close the jaw 15 upon wheel-blank on the seat 10.

As shown in Figs. l and '2, a pair of cutters 30 and 31, driven by motors 32 and 33 respectively, are positioned so that a heel-blank clamped on the seat 10 will be moved-past said cutters between them, so that they operate onboth sides of the blank to trim the same. Figrl shows the mechanism in diagrammatic form with the "disk 9 and its mounting moved somewhat to the left so that parts, otherwise hidden, may be seen. In thisv-iew also the clamps 13 have been simplified in construction and reduced in number in order to avoid crowdingyand confusion. In order to avoid imposing on these clamps the force required to hold the blank against the action of both cutters at the same time, one of the cutters is offset with respect to the other so that these cutters will engage the blank in succession rather than simultaneously. As shown in Fig. 4, the cutter 30 is elevatedvwith respect to the cutter 31 toproduce this oliset.

The putters 30 and 31 are mounted, respectively, on shafts 34 and 35 journalled in bearing blocks 36,.iand

. 37; The bearing block37 and the motor 33 are mounted said rails 39. The block 36, howev'enis setupon spacer block's 41 m provide the offset for, the cutter 30,.men-

tiojned above. Each of the plates 38 and flit ispmvided with a block 42 threaded to receive a screw 43 journalled in the base 1 and having a crank handle 44 for rotating the same. These screws provide means for moving the plates 38 and 40 along the Ways 39 to adjust the spacing of the cutters. The plates may be clamped in adjusted position by clamp studs 45.

In order to operate the clamp arm 13 in timed relation to the rotation of the disk 9, the pressure units 23, 24, 25 are supplied by a rotary valve shown in Fig. 6. Mounted on the shaft 7 to rotate therewith is a valve plate 46 formed with a series of right-angle ducts 47 each extending from a port 48 in the outer cylindrical surface of the plate 46 to a port in the adjacent portion of the radial face 49 of said plate. Connected at each of said ports 48 is a fitting 50 which is connected by 3 a tube 51 with the fitting 27 of one of said pressure units (Fig. 5). A wear plate 52, of graphitic material, such as the material known bythe trade name of Graphitar, is loosely mounted on the hub portion of the plate 46and keyed to said plate by a pair of pins 53 on the plate 46 which engage holes 54 in the wear plate. Said wear plate is formed with through holes 55 matching the ends of the ducts 17 in the face of the plate 46. A complementary valve plate 56 is slidably mounted on a bushing 57 surrounding the shaft 7 and supported in the bearing bracket 8. The plate 56 is keyed to the bracket 8 by pins 58 on said bracket entering matching holes (not shown) in the plate 56 to hold the latter stationary. Springs 59, engaging matching sockets in the bracket 8 and the plate 56, press said plate against the wear plate 52.

The face of the valve plate 56 which engages the Wear plate 52 is formed with a circumferential groove 60 com municating with a duct 61 to which a fluid-pressure supply conduit 62 is connected. The groove 60 is aligned radially with the holes 55 and the ducts 47 of the rotating plate 46, and serves as an intake manifold to supply pressure to these ducts and their connected pressure units during a certain portion of each revolution of the disk 9. A similar groove 63, connecting with an exhaust port 64, provides an exhaust manifold for said units. Accordingly, as each of the ports 47, 55 comes opposite the groove 63 that unit will be exhausted and the clamp released.

In the operation of this device the disk 9 and the cutters rotate continuously and fluid pressure is continuously maintained in the supply conduit 62. The operator places heel blanks in the seats 10 as they pass, as indicated in Fig. 1. The groove 60 of the valve is so located that the blank is clamped near the top of its travel and the clamp maintained until just after the last cutter has operated on the blank. The cutters trim the opposite sides of the blank in succession as described above. Thereafter the exhaust manifold 63 operates to release the clamp and the trimmed blank is dropped into a chute 65 which conducts it to a suitable container. This sequence can be continued just as fast as an operator can load the seats 10 with blanks,

Various changes may be made in the details of construction, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of this invention. Parts of the invention may be used Without the whole and improvements may be added while retaining some or all of the advantages of the invention.

We claim:

1. In a machine for trimming wood heels, the combination comprising, a rotary disk member providing a heel-blank support, a plurality of heel-blank seats peripherally arranged on said member and having clamp elements at one side of said member, a clamp arm for each of said seats pivoted on the other side of said disk member adjacent the center thereof and having a clamp element opposite said seat, spring means operating to move said arm away from said seat, a fluid-pressure unit on said disk member for each of said arms, and a lever pivoted on said member having one arm positioned for engagement by said unit and another arm engaging said clamp arm to move the same into clamping engagement with a heel-blank in said seat.

2. A combination as defined in claim 1 in which said units are mounted on said first side of said members and have plungers extending through openings in said member to engage said levers.

3. In a wood-heel forming machine of the character described, a turret member mounted for rotaion on a horizontal axis, a plurality of heel-seats peripherally arranged on the rim of said turret member, means for clamping a heel-blank in each of said seats, said clampmg means including coacting clamp elements on opposite sides of the turret member holding the heel-blank so that it protrudes beyond the rim of the turret member, and cutter means positioned on opposite sides of the turret member to operate on opposite sides of said blanks as said turret member rotates.

4. In a wood-heel forming machine of the character described, a turret member mounted for rotaion, a plurality of heel-seats peripherally arranged on the rim of said turret member, means for clamping'a heel-blank in-each of said seats, said clamping means including a clamp element disposed adjacent each seat at one side of the turret member, a coacting clamp element at the opposite side of the turret member, and means for opening and closing said clamp elements, the clamp elements holding the heel-blanks so as to protrude beyond the rim of the turret member, and cutter means positioned on opposite sides of the turret member to operate on op.-

posite the sides of said blanks as said turret member rotates.

5. In a machine for trimming wood heels, the com bination comprising a rotary disc member providing a heel blank support, a plurality of heel blank seats peripherally arranged on the rim of said disc member, clamp elements for each seat at one side of said disc member, a

. coacting clamp arm for each of said seats pivoted on the other side of said disc member, resilient means operatively connected to said clamp arms tending to move said arms away from said seat, a fluid pressure unit on said disc member for each of said clamp arms, means interconnecting said fluid pressure units to said clamp arms to move the arms into clamping engagement with heel blanks in said seats, said clamp element and clamp arm on opposite sides of the disc member holding the heel blank so that it protrudes beyond the rim of the disc member, and cutter means positioned on opposite sides of the disc member to operate on opposite sides of said blanks as said disc member rotates.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,787,642 Sawyer Jan. 6, 1931 1,835,528 Roe Dec. 8, 1931 1,930,640 Bradley et al. Oct; 17, 1933 2,339,965 Turner Jan. 25, 1944 2,631,621 Otte Mar. 17, 1953 2,639,742 Constantine et al. May 26, 1953 2,672,272 Harris Mar. 16, 1954 

